Music Hype

Madonna has always been a controversial artist, and has used that to her advantage. It seems that since the beginning of her career, people have been talking about her whether they want to or not, and during one time she was one of a select group of artists who congress was trying to ban from being played on MTV. But it doesn’t seem to have hurt her, despite hurting several other artists. In fact, by staying the same controversial artist she is, it seems she ensures people know who she is. She isn’t like Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears, and benefits from her age – the transition from a regular singer to a controversial one, that uses her sexuality to sell records, was done early on, and since then she’s been mostly known as the controversial artist she is now.
With other artists, their attempts at controversy seem to be only a phase, and at times an attempt at selling a few extra records, rather than truly expressing themselves.

Which is why, I guess, Madonna is so well accepted, despite being against what a lot of people believe in. She expresses herself, and despite some cases just doing it for the money, most of the time her videos and clothes are just another way of expressing who she really is, much like Jennifer Lopez. Her latest controversial video clip seems to include her wearing a bra that keeps popping out, intentionally, wearing a cross, hinting at motherhood, and various other occurrences added in for good measure. But it’s not the video to her MDNA single that made people buzz lately, but her perfume ad.
In it Madonna appears in what people have dubbed an S&M outfit, rolling on the floor licking her lips. The perfume, Truth of Dare, seems to target girls wanting to be bad, and go against what society expects of them, hence the ad. Being too racy for ABC, people will probably flock to see it. Forbidding something almost instantly makes it a hit.

Bluegrass has been a music associated with the deep south, and has never seen as many fans as Pop and Rock music saw, but despite it all, Bluegrass, like Jazz, has a cult following. And it seems that cult following has suffered a great loss recently, with the announcement that banjo legend Earl Scruggs died at the age of 88.
Being among the top musicians in the Bluegrass genre, fans are already saying the genre won’t be the same without him.
Having performed for several decades now, and having performed with some famous acts, like famous female guitar singer Joan Baez, he seems to have done almost anything.

Scruggs seems like the type of musician who plays almost anywhere, with almost anyone, and does it under the rader. The type of musician who crosses the world with his music, and manages to have a long standing career, despite not being a familiar name for most music listeners.
But despite the loss, fans took comfort in learning that the singer died of natural causes. Unlike the Pop and Rock genres, where musicians burn fast and die young, the earthy tones of both Bluegrass and Jazz have always continued going strong.

It seems other genres, becoming famous a while back, and having to wake up and realize they’re not that sought after anymore, have made once troubled musicians grow up and find a career, instead of fame, in the industry.
But what’s sad about the singer’s death, is that people won’t get to know him, and that his death will surely fuel album sales. It seems no matter who you are, you sell more records dead than alive, and after a long standing career, you get famous for what you did last, and what you did best.

It isn’t clear whether fellow musicians are planning a tribute concert in his honor, but such occurrences aren’t rare, and people only just recently discovering his work, might want to open their eyes and look out for an opportunity to listen to it live, played by the people he accompanied for so many years – people who know how it’s played, and won’t always be there.

With the release of the much anticipated adaptation, The Hunger Games, it seems the music industry is seeing a surge in soundtrack sales, with The Hunger Games OST leading the way. The album is steady at number one on Billboard 200 albums chart, and is anticipated to continue strong for several weeks now.
The Hunger Games, is a successful series of books aimed at teens, that has already been translated to multiple languages, and now was made into a feature film. The soundtrack alone has sold over 175,000 copies, which is big for any type of album, and is a number not a lot of artists get to see in their lifetime.

Behind The Hunger Games soundtrack, is Adele’s 21 album, still going strong, and following that is the Shins’ Port of Morrow. But with the release of new much anticipated films, it seems those two artists will be knocked off the album charts, and we might see soundtracks take over and become the big new thing in music.
Whether containing a collection of songs, or original material, soundtracks have always been a major attraction for people, especially during the era of the CD, before internet sales of individual songs was conceived.
Soundtracks have always been another form of compilation albums, allowing listeners to get the best tracks out there.

Whether showcasing one band’s best material, a collection of 90s pop songs, or a collection of songs the movie’s creator deemed suiting to the movie’s theme, what buyers get is a collection of about 20 songs they know they’ll play over and over again – something you can’t tell when buying an artist’s new album. Soundtracks have always seen surges in popularity, especially around the summer, the time where many action movies get released, as well as movies for the entire family, allowing soundtrack creators to appeal to a larger audience. And it seems nowadays they’re due for a comeback.

About to release his 11th solo album, Paul Weller decided to attack the music industry for resting on its laurels. Despite showcasing new talent lately, it seems Weller thinks the music industry isn’t taking any risks, and isn’t doing what artists should do – challenge themselves.
In an interview, Weller has stated that with his new album he hopes to stir things up, and get people excited again about listening to music. As excited as they were growing up, discovering great new bands.
Such criticism isn’t new, but now it’s coming from someone who spent a lot of his time in the music industry, and is doing well enough to release 11 albums.

Paul Weller might not be a name you’re familiar with, but having a dedicated audience that goes to every one of his shows, this 53 year old isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, it seems the singer has found the formula for longevity, allowing him to be more than the regular pop singer – popular for five years, than disappearing from sight.
According to official records, his 11th album has already sold 24,000 units, reaching number one in the charts.
But that isn’t all – together with the release of a new album, Weller is already scheduled to perform in the United States, as well as on TV, such as “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”.

So it isn’t an artist making it away from the mainstream, which many artists choose to do nowadays – keep performing rather than breakout and quickly burn & fade away.
Weller has pointed to previous albums as an answer to what he means by “shaking it up” – his albums have shown different styles Weller experimented with, allowing him to reach a sound uniquely his, that he is satisfied with. But the singer says he won’t stop experimenting, and will continue trying new things.

Whitney Houston’s death has shocked many, despite her tumultuous past, since it came long after her much publicized drug problems, as well as scuffles with Bobby Brown. It seemed like the singer was getting better as time went by, and we stopped hearing about her antics, but suddenly the news came that she died – apparently drowned in her tub. Then family members, primarily her young daughter, stated that she must have been murdered, since such a death doesn’t occur naturally. The results of the autopsy performed on the singer have been anticipated for quite some time, and now it seems the actor did drown, but that her system contained a small amount of cocaine.
It isn’t clear whether the singer had a relapse, or whether she went back to using drugs as much as before, but it seems not all was well with her life.

Dying in a bathtub is an undignified death, much like the death Elvis suffered, but it seems the type of death the biggest stars seem to have. Whether accidentally overdosing on a prescription medication, or dying as the result of illegal drug use, they rarely seem to have a quiet and dignified death. It’s something people in the music industry as well as in Hollywood will have to face, since it’s been going on more than usual lately. It seemed the time where Hollywood meant not being able to cope with publicity, and being in the newspapers every week, was gone forever, and Hollywood started aiming at a more well balanced and healthy way to be, but that might be slowly unravelling.

Hollywood is in the public’s eye 24/7, and has to be to make a buck, but that also means they’ll have to adhere to certain rules, and start showing a more positive version of it. I think everyone’s pretty much sick of the drama associated with Hollywood in the 90s, and to some degree the 80s, which echoed its earliest days, where stars were unofficial kings and queens.

Having become famous nine years ago, 50 Cent was having a retrospective concert, containing tracks from his previous albums. Having been put in the mainstream eye by Eminem, the hip hop producer was invited to perform together with 50 Cent, and celebrate the release of his new work.
The both having had many setbacks and tumultuous beginnings, they feel connected and have been friends for a long time. Eminem living up in a rough neighborhood and finding it hard to find success, and 50 Cent being shot multiple times and living to tell about it, causing him to wear a bulletproof vest for a while after.

Santigold, the quirky singer from Brooklyn, has invited fans to join her on stage, and made her concert performance into an interactive experience, allowing various fans to dance to her music on stage, and perform alongside her. Her upbeat performance was also used to debut new tracks from an album she is just releasing, Master of My Make Believe, which is expected to be shipped to stores May 1st.
But it seems the live experience is where it’s at, containing band members dressed as Egyptians, and backup dancers performing the weirdest dances they can come up with, turning each performance into what resembles a block party.

Jack White, famous for being one part of the duo The White Stripes, has said that he’s taking a look back on his career, now that he has started performing solo, and branched out to other musical occupations, such as owning a record label.
His solo concert, lasting an hour and a half, featured material from both his solo work and his collaboration with other artists as part of a band, or the famous duo The White Stripes. It isn’t clear what White will do next – his record label takes a considerable amount of his time, not leaving him much time to create. But it seems he’ll continue pursuing a solo career for now, and possibly creating another group in the future.